“As Close as Possible to the Unlivable”: (Michel Foucault and Phenomenology)

Abstract

This article aims at showing that in spite of Michel Foucault's violent rejection of phenomenology, this discipline never ceased to bear a crucial significance for his archaeological and genealogical analyses, in that it can be construed as a symptom indicating the most serious challenge that the contemporary philosophy has to meet: thinking together Experience and Knowledge. The author intends to prove, by resorting to the Marxian concept of 'objectively necessary appearance', that Foucault's main opposition to phenomenology stems from his original conception of the theory as a sort of experiment made by the philosopher on himself and on his own historical a priori.

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“…Also, with this newer methodology, Foucault desired to eliminate the hinting of transcendence, the ability to see data objectively, which was sometimes said to be apparent in his archaeological discussions (Koopman, 2010). This view of his beginning work was upsetting to Foucault as he felt that it was not possible to separate oneself from discipline being studied (Legrand, 2008). Despite Foucault's continued emphasis that 'origins' were not possible, he saw the importance of understanding the historical precursors that shape the discourse being examined (Lopez & Willis, 2004;Watson & Vessey, 1997).…”